Description and research notes
Issued banknote of the Banco Oriental of Uruguay, dated 1 de Agosto de 1867 and printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York. Produced from the same engraved plates as the standard single-signature issue, this example documents a transitional authorization state following the brief dual-signature requirement implemented during the initial circulation period.
The obverse design remains unchanged from the core 1867 issue, featuring allegorical female figures representing Commerce and Abundance at left, the national coat of arms at right, and a prominent central orange guilloche bearing the inscription “UN DOBLÓN DE ORO SELLADO.” The design emphasizes gold convertibility and reflects American Bank Note Company engraving standards developed for Latin American monetary contracts of the mid-nineteenth century.
Serial number 35345 is distinguished by a single handwritten circulation signature placed centrally within the designated signature area. This centered placement differs from both the original right-side handwritten signature format and the later right-side facsimile signature format. Its positioning reflects a deliberate layout adjustment following the abandonment of the dual-signature authorization model.
The centered handwritten signature represents a short-lived transitional solution within Banco Oriental’s authorization practice. After briefly requiring two manual signatures and then abandoning that requirement, the bank consolidated authority back to a single signer while temporarily repositioning the signature to rebalance the visual composition of the note. This configuration was subsequently abandoned in favor of restoring the original right-side placement when facsimile signatures were introduced.
This example is identified as plate position pp A. While Paper Money Guaranty does not formally define plate position distinctions within the Pick catalog, such annotations provide additional insight into production sequencing and demonstrate that different plate positions were employed across distinct authorization states.
Cataloged as Pick S385a together with all other issued 1867 Banco Oriental 10 Pesos Doblón notes, this centered-signature variant is not separately recognized in standard references. Its importance lies in documenting the internal administrative evolution of the Banco Oriental during a period of rapid procedural change rather than in representing a formally distinct catalog type.
Within a complete study of the Banco Oriental Doblón series, serial 35345 occupies a critical transitional position, bridging the rare dual handwritten signature state and the later standardized facsimile signature issue. It provides direct physical evidence of an otherwise undocumented intermediate authorization practice.